Livermorium is a chemical element previously known as Ununihexium for its atomic number 116. It is a very heavy, radioactive and man made element. It was created or discovered in 2004. When decaying it decays into the element Flerovium, element 114.

Contents

Properties

The element Livermorium is radioactive and only exists for less than a second before decaying into lighter atoms. Element 116 will quickly decay into 114 (Flerovium), and 114 transforms into the slightly lighter Copernicium as it sheds its alpha particles.The first single atom of Livermorium-292 detected existed for 46.9 ms before undergoing alpha-decay to Flerovium-288. Two more atoms of Livermorium-292 that were made existed for 125.5 ms and another for 55.0 ms.[1] Three isotopes of Livermorium are known; the longest-lasting had an atomic weight of 293 g and a half-life of 53 ms. Its chemical properties may potentially be similar to those of Polonium.

Synthesis

The first atom of Livermorium was made in Dubna, Russia in July 2000 by scientist from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, USA.[2] Livermorium is made by a fusion of Calcium-48 with Curium-248. Calciumions were formed into a beam in a cyclotron (a particle accelerator) and fired at a Curium target. By 2005, 30 atoms of Livermorium had been made.[1] The formula for the reaction to make Livermorium is follows: 24896Cm + 4820Ca → 292116Lv + 4 n This element soon after decays into the element 114 (Flerovium) which is demanstrated by the following formula: 292116Lv → 288114Fl + 42He [3]

Uses

This element has no uses because there are not enough made. It is only used for scientific research. The scientists believe that this element will help them get closer to the island of stability. The island of stability is the idea of an equal number of protons to neutrons. They believe that the radioactive decay half-life would last a couple minutes or even days.

History of the Name

This is the lab that created Livermorium

Livermorium is also known as Ununhexium. The name Ununhexium is, or was, a place hold because the element was known to exist but never truly seen. Ununhexium means one-one-six-ium ("ium" is a standard ending for element names).The element 116 had the temporary symbol Uuh.[4] At one point the scientists were going to name the element after Moscow.